Roll-paper guard and cutter



H. B. CRANSHAW.

ROLL PAPER GUARD AND CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28,1919.

1,135 1 2 555 Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

44/ wwaam litllTEB STA p a i i HAROLD B. CRANSHAW, 013 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROLL-PAPER GUARD AND currnn.

Specification of. Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

Application filed. July 28, 1919. Serial No. 313,794.

SHAW, a citizen of the United States, and

resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Roll Paper Guards and Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a guard and paper cutter for a roll paper dispenser.

Heretofore it has been customary to equip roll paper dispensers with relatively narrow cutters supported in contact with the surface of the roll of paper through the medium of a plurality of arms attached thereto-and depending from the upper portion of the roll support. It often happens that after tearing'off a strip of paper from the roll to wrap an article, the free edge of the roll of paper slips back beneath the cutter where it is inaccessible until again brought around in front ofthe roll by either rotating the roll backward through substantially a complete revolution or by lifting the cutter and pulling the edge of the paper forward beneath the cutter. Backward rotation of the roll tends to loosen the paper and render it more liable to crumpling and tearing when it is later unwound, and forward rotation of the roll also tends to crumplethe paper as the edge of the paper catches upon the rear side of the cutter support and the paper is not guided smoothly beneath the cutter. r

However, if the cutter is supported by a supporting member which presents a substantially continuous rear surface to the edge of the roll of paper the support will act as a guard and will guidetheedge of the paper smoothly beneath the cutter} The wide surface of the supporting guard may also be advantageously utilized for the display of advertising matter, as almost invariably a customer watches the salesman while he tears offa piece of wrapping paper and wraps the purchase. I r r A principal objectof my'invention there-' fore is to obviate the difficulties heretofore encountered, to overcome the objections to devices of this nature, to provide a uard and cutterwhich will smoothly gui e the edge of the paper beneath the edge of the the full length of the roll of paper.

guard is preferably arched as shown and cutter, to form a combined guard and cutter preferably from a single piece of sheetmaterial, to reduce the cost and increase the rate of production of roll paper cutters and'to provlde a guard which has a relat1vely wide surface suitable for the display of advertisingmatter.

1 W111 now describe the invention in connection with one illustrative species of the genus of myinvention. In the accompanving drawings,

Flgure l'is a perspective view of a roll paper dispenser provided with a' paper cutter constructed in accordance with one embodiment of my invention; 7

Fig. 2 is a front view of a modified form of cutter; I

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the cutter taken on the'line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail View showing an improved hinge-means for yieldingly supportlng the cutter onthe-frame of the paper dispenser;

V Fig.- 5 is an end view of the hinge shown in Figxtfand V Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line'6-6 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, a roll paper dispenser is illustrated which comprises in general, two end-supports 1 andjEZ between which a roll of paper 3 may be supported in the usual manner, a cross-bar 4 attached to the upper ends of the 'supportsby any suitable-means as by screwsb, and a com- I bined guarding and cutting member 6 yieldingly connected to the underside; of the cross-bar 4 and provided with a cutting edge7.

The member 6jis preferably constructed from a strip of-sheet metal which is of suliicient width to'eXtend from the cross-bar 1 to a point well down on the side of the roll of paper and of sufficient length'to extend The provided with embossed ribs 8 extending widthwise thereon to give it greater1stiffness. These ribs serve also to divide the face-of the guard into panels 9,10 and 11,

in which advertising matter of any desired nature may be painted or otherwise dis-L played. The lower edge of the guard is 4O 7 posed pairs as shown they also serve to remill bent outwardly to a slight extent to provide an edge 7 for cutting the paper when it is desired to detach a strip from the roll.

The member 6 at its upper edge is rolled upon itself over a rod 12 as shown at 13 in Figs. 4 and 5, and is pivoted to the underside of the cross-bar a by means of staples 1 1 which pass through holes 15 in the guard and embrace the rolled rim of the guard. For yieldingly pressing the cutter 7 of the guard against the roll of paper, coiled springs 16 are provided, surrounding the rod 12 in cut away portions 17 of the rolled rim 13 ofthe guard, the ends of the springs bearing respectively against the .bar 4 and against the guard 6.

The wide unbroken surface of the guard permits the torn edge of the roll of paper to be guided forwardly underneath the cutting edge 7 without crumpling, by a forward rotation of the roll when for any reason the edge of the paper has slipped back behind the cutting edge. This construction of the guard thereby obviates the necessity of turning the rollbackward a complete revolution in order to again bring the edge of the paper in front of the cutting edge, and the consequent loosening of the paper on the roll. Further, as hereinbefore pointed out, the wide unbroken surface of the guard affords an excellent place to display advertising matter.

In Figs. 2, 3 and 6, I have illustrated a modified form of guarding and cutting member 18 whichis in general similar to the member in Fig. 1, but which is provided with struck-up ribs 20, 21, 22 and 23 in lieu of the corrugations 8 in Fig. 1. These ribs afford somewhat greater stiffness to the member 18 and by arrangingthem in opceive andretain'display cards (not shown),

. or to form panels 9, 10 and 11, as previously described, in which advertising matter may 3 be painted or otherwise displayed.- For preventing such. display cards from slipping downwardly from beneath the guides, two

stops 2 1 and '25 are struck up from the guard 18 and embrace the lower edges respectively of display cards positioned between the guides of the guard. The guard is pivoted to the cross-bar 4 of the dispenser in themanner shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and hereinbefore described.

A cardinal feature of the invention in one aspect consists in that the guard and cutter is combined in a single integral piece of sheet metal which is so formed that it may be pivotally mounted on the crossbar above the paper roll and which is curved outi wardlyand downwardly with its lower portion in contact with the paper roll so that it presents a co'ntinuousarched surface from' the cross-bar toithe roll. The transverse corrugat ons orribs are also lmportant for the reason that while the outward curve or arch of the guard from top to bottom adequately strengthens (also positioning the cutting edge at the side of the roll) the guard longitudinally, the corrugations or ribs contribute largely to the transverse stiffness. The ribs also serve the additional function of holding cards on the guard.

I claim:

1. In a roll paper dispenser, a paper cutter comprising a relatively wide curved guard member, the lower edge of said guard member being bent to provide a cutting blade, and integral, transverse card holding ribs struck up from said guard and disposed in pairs, said ribs serving simultaneously as stiffening members and as guides for retaining'display cards upon the face of said guard.

2. In a roll paper dispenser, a paper outter comprising a relatively wide curved guard member having a lower cutting edge, integral, transverse card holding ribs struck up from said guard and disposed in pairs, said ribs serving simultaneously as guides for retaining display cards upon the face of said guard, and stops struck up from said guard adjacent the cutting edge thereof, for preventing said display cards from slipping from beneath said guide ribs.

3. In a roll paper dispenser, a support, a paper cutter comprising a relatively wide curved guard member having a lower cutting edge and rolled orbeaded upper edge,

integral, transverse card holding members struck up from said guard and disposed in pairs adapted to serve simultaneously as stiffening members and as guides for retaining display cardsupon the face of said guard, said guard having openings therein adjacent said beaded edge, a rod within the bead, staples passing through said openings and embracing said bead for pivotally securing said guard member to'said support, and coiled springs surrounding said rod and having engagement with said support and with said guard member for yieldingly pressing the cutting edge of said guard member against the roll of paper.

4. In a roll'paper dispenser, a support, a paper cutter'comprising a relatively wide curved guard member; integral, transverse card holding members struck up from said guard and disposed in pairs adapted to serve simultaneously as stiffening members and as guldes for retaining display cards upon the face of said. guard, a hinge member havgagement respectively With said hinge memstruck up from said guard and so disposed bers. as to form panels for the display of adver- 5. In a roll paper dispenser, a paper cuttislng matter. 10 ter comprising a relatively Wide curved Slgned by me at Boston, Massachusetts,

guard member, the lower edge of said guard this 21st day of July, 1919.

member being formed to provide a cutting blade, and transverse, stiffening members HAROLD B. CRANSHAW. 

